Connector clip



July 11, 1944. BENDER 2,353,286

CONNECTOR CLIP Filed Jan.' 29, 1941 /fvsuLAr/aw wlTNEssEs: JJ I INVENTOR ATTORNE Patented July 11, 1944 inghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsyl- Vania Application January 29, 1941,@seria1No. 376,411

6 claims. (o1. 20o-134)' strength, having little resiliency, and after repeated heating and cooling of the clip in response to the current flow therethrough, such resilient characteristics as they may have are further impaired. This is a distinct disadvantage because it has been found that relatively high pressures are necessary to obtain good contact between the separable contacting portions of such connections.

Accordingly, one object of my invention is to provide a novel type of reinforcing means for clip type connectors.

Reinforcing means have been applied lto clip type connectors heretofore, but they have been f usually of resilient material -U-shape in form, and, therefore, necessarily relatively flexible and -susceptible to acquiring a permanent set in hard use.

Therefore, another object of my invention is to provide novel reinforcing means for a clip type of connector utiliziing flat resilient reinforcing portions.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel reinforcing means for fuse clips which may be applied to standard clips without the use of any attaching means.

Another object of my invention is to .provide a novel arrangement of a fuse clip and reinforcing means therefor.

Another object of my invention is to provide reinforcing means for a fuse clip which also provides stop means for a fuse when inserted in the clip.

These and other objects of my invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in connection with the attached drawing, in which:

' Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a fuse mounted in supporting clips with my novel reinforcing means applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the right-hand end of the fuse supporting structure shown in Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a blank illustrating one step in the manufacture of my novel reinforcing means;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the completed reinforcing member;

Fig. 5 is an end view of a fuse clip for receiv- :ing a flat terminal of a fuse with a modified form of my novel reinforcing means applied thereto.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the reinforcing means shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the blank from which the reinforcing means of Figs. 5 and 6 is made.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown an insulating supporting base 2 which may be'of any desired insulating material,` preferably a. moulded material. Terminal straps 4 and 6 are secured in anyv desired manner to the top of the insulating piece 2 at opposite ends thereof, respectively. These strapsv are provided with terminal screws 8 (only one of which is shown) for securing circuit conductors thereto. Each terminal strap also supports contact clips I0 for receiving end ferrules 26 of a fuse 24. As shown, the contact clips l0 are substantially U- shape in form with the connecting portion thereof secured to the terminal strap by any desired means, and with theleg portions thereof extending outwardly from the insulating support 2. ."I have shown the contact clips l0 especially adapted for receiving fuse ferrules 26 which are substantially circular in cross sectional form, and each contact clip has the outer edge of each leg adjacent the outer ends of the legs struck inwardly as at Il, and separated from the material of the' clipto' provide a stop to prevent undue longitudinal movement of the fuse with respect to the clip. AAsstated above, the clips Il necessarily must be constructed of some good electrical conducting material such as copper or the like to provide for a good electrical connection to the fuse, and when constructed of vsuch material, due to thev inherent physical qualities of these materials, the clips may not havesufficient resiliency to maintain good electrical contact with the fuse terminals, especially after -periods of repeated heating and cooling of the clips, and moreover are relatively ineffective in providing a desirable high pressure contact between the legs of the contact clips and the fuse ferrules.

Accordingly, I have provided a novel reinforcing means for the contact clips which is preferably formed from a strap of resilient material such as spring steel Which is cut,.as forexample by a stamping operation, to form individual reinforcing member blanks substantially as shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the blank I2 is provided with a substantially central aperture substantially in the form of the letter H, and including a transverse portion I4, and spaced parallel longitudinally extending portions I6 at the ends of the transverse portions I4, respectively. The ends I8 of the strap, as shown, have their sides converged. To form the completed reinforcing member from the blank I2 shown in Fig. 3, it is merely necessary (to bend the ends I8 of the body towards each other substantially along the lines A and B shown in Fig. 3. The resulting structure, as shown in Fig. 4, comprises substantially parallel spring levers each having opposite ends I8 and 22, and connected intermediate their ends but adjacent their ends 22, by tension straps 20, integral therewith.

The tension connector straps 28 of my reinforcing memberY are spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the contact clip so thatthe reinforcing member may be inserted over the outer end of the clip and be moved to the position shown in Fig. 2, without requiring the use of any special tools. Now when a fuse terminal ferrule 26 is inserted in the fuse clip I0, outward movement of the legs of the clip is resisted by the spring levers I8 of the reinforcing member. rI'he sides of the reinforcing member are prevented from moving outwardly by the integral connecting straps 2U, and since the ends 22 of the sides of the reinforcing members engage the bottom or bight portion of the contact clips I8, any relative outward movementy of the reinforcing member lever ends IB, must result in bending of the sides of the reinforcing member outwardly of the connecting straps 20. The ends of levers I8 are obviously cantilever spring levers, and, therefore, can be made much stronger than other types of reinforcing means.

It should also be noted that the connecting tension straps 2.8 have an added function and that is to limit movement of the fuse terminal ferrules 26 into the contact clips 20, or towards the insulating support 2. It should also be noted that the reinforcing member, being of spring steel, has a higher electrical resistance than the contact clip I so that there will be relatively little current flowing in the reinforcing member, and there will, therefore, be no tendency to heat this member from that source.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6, and '7 of the drawing, I have disclosed a reinforcing member for a fuse clip which is especially adapted to receive blade-like terminals of fuses as distinguished from the cylindrical terminal 2S shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawing. Referring to Fig. 7, I have shown a blank or strip 28, which is formed substantially in the same manner as the blank shown in Fig. 3 by a cutting or punching operation, but has a transverse cut of different configuration than thatl of the blank shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. '7, the blank 28 is cut transversely along an irregular line which terminates with its ends spaced from the sides of the blank 28. The cut in blank 28 as shown comprises substantially rectangular alternately oppositely looped portions 30 terminating in ends 32 spaced from, but substantially parallel to the sides of the blank. Obviously when the ends 33, 34 of the blank 28 are bent towards each other substantially ialong the lines C, D, respectively, a reinforcing member will be formed as shown in Fig. 6, wherein the legs 33, 34 extend upwardly, and are connected by integral tension portions 35, with the leg 34 provided below the tension portions 38 with a pair of spaced supporting legs 38, and the leg 33 being provided below tension portions 36 with a single supporting leg 48 positioned in staggered relation with Arespect to supporting legs 38 and intermediate them.

Referring to Fig. 5, I have shown an insulating base 42 substantially like the base 2 shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and to which is secured, for example, by a screw 44, a substantially U- shaped contact clip #26 having substantially flat leg portions which flare slightly outwardly at their ends to closely engage the sifples of a blade-like terminal 48 on a fuse 50. Obviously, the contact clip 48 shown in Fig. 5 is much narrower than the clip shown in Figs. l and 2, and in order to form a reinforcing member by a cutting or punching operation as disclosed in Fig. 3, it is necessary to cut the Strip so as to form relatively short connecting portions 36, which is accomplished by the particular form of cut made in blank 28, and shown in Fig. 7. The reinforcing member shown in Fig. 6 may be slipped over the clip 46 shown in Fig. 5 before fuse terminal 48 is inserted in the clip. This may be accomplished by bending the outer ends of the clip towards each other to permit passage of the reinforcing member over the same to the position shown in Fig. 5. Obviously in this position the outwardly turned ends of the clips assist in preventing outward movement of the reinforcing member, and the fiat sides 33 and 34 of the reinforcing member closely engage the flat sides of the clip 46.

It is believed obvious that the clip shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 7 operates to reinforce a fuse clip substantially in the same manner as the rein-forcing member shown in Figs. l to 3 of the drawing. In other words, separating movement of the sides of clip 45 is resisted by the cantilever formed on the one hand by legs 34 and 38 of the reinforcing member, and on the other hand by legs 33 and 40. Since these resilient cantilever members are connected intermediate their ends by integral tension strips 35, they are positively restrained at these points against separation, and, therefore, outward movement of the sides of the clip 4B can result only in bending of the sides of the reinforcing member in a cantilever manner. It should be noted that in this form of my invention like that disclosed in connection with Figs. l to 3 of the drawing, the tension strips 36 also form stops for the fuse terminal 8 to limit movement of the terminal inwardly of the contact clip 46.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that I have provided novel types of reinforcing means for fuse contact clips which may be readily applied to clips without the use of any tools or without any modification of the clip itself. My reinforcing Vmeans further embodies the use of cantilever springs for backing up the sides of e contact clip, with connecting tension straps which act not only to prevent separation .of the springs but also serve as a stop means for limiting the movement of the-fuse into its Vcontact clip.

Having described preferred embodiments of my invention in `accordance with the patent statutes,

,I desire that it be'understood that my invention is not to be limited to the particular embodiments herein disclosed, inasmuch as it will be obvious, particularly to persons skilled in the art that many changes and modications may be `made in these particular structures Without departing from the broad spirit and scope of my invention. Therefore, the following claims should be interpreted as broadly as possible and should be limited only by what is expressly stated therein and by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. Connecting means including a substantially U-shape clip of conducting material, reinforcing means for said clip including a resilient member engaging one side of said clip at spaced points, and tie means at least at one side edge of said clip extending between a point on said member intermediate said spaced points and the other side of said clip, for stressing said member.

2. Connecting means including a substantially U-shape clip of conducting material, reinforcing means for said clip including a pair of resilient members engaging spaced points at opposite sides of said clip, and means outside the connes of said clip connecting said members intermediate said points.

3. Unitary reinforcing means for clip type connectors comprising spaced opposed reinforcing members at least one of which is resilient, and spaced means connecting opposite sides of said members intermediate the ends thereof against relative separating movement.

4. Unitary reinforcing means for clip type connectors comprising spaced opposed reinforcing members at least one of which is resilient and spaced means integral with said members connecting intermediate portions thereof.

5. Connecting means including a substantially U-shape clip of conducting material, leaf spring members positioned at opposite outer sides of the 1eg portions of said clip, and means connecting said members intermediate their ends, said members including leg portions at one side of said connecting means arranged in staggered relation.

6. Reinforcing means for clip type connectors comprising spaced opposed reinforcing members at least one of which is resilient, and means connecting said members at points adjacent to but spaced from corresponding ends thereof, said corresponding ends of said members including leg portions arranged in staggered relation.

JOHN BENDER. 

